MR. ANDREWS, M.H.R., AT CHRISTCHURCH.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2238, 30 April 1881, Page 3

MR. ANDREWS, M.H.R., AT CHRISTCHURCH.

Mr S. P. Andrews, one of tho members forChristchnrch, addressed a meeting of his constituents nt tho Academy of Mnsic, last evening, his Worship tho Mayor occupying the chair. At the ontset, the meeting had a tendency to ho boisterous, but calmed down ns time advanced. Tho chairman introduced the speaker, for whom ho claimed a patient and considerate hearing. Mr Andrews (after some interruptions, daring which ho could not be heard) said he would not detain tho meeting long with preliminaries, bnt wanted to come directly to questions of interest to tho electors. First as to why lie came forward to address them. Ho was quite aware that the people were acquainted through "Hansard" and the daily Press with his doings as their representative in Parliament. [A Voice —" We know too welll”] This wonld save him a lot of unnecessary time in recapitulating tho proceedings of tho session. At the same time, ho thought it only right to address his constituents and to give them an account of his action in regard to tho :rnst they had reposed in him. But his speech would bo more of a prospective character than of lie past, and at tho ontset ho was mot with a diffimlty. The Ministry had pnt forward no policy of i definite character, and ho had no policy, as it veto, to fight for or reject. Major Atkinson, the inly member of tho Cabinet who had as yet spoken, iad confined himself solely to the finances of the iolony and tho property tax, and that he (Mr Indrows) did not intend to deal with at tho present ime. ) The subject of finance was one for men to lisenss who had made the subject a study, A man, or example, who had passed through tho Treasury vas tho man to answer Major Atkinson n regard to tho statement ho had made. )no point he desired to touch on. It vos this : That tho hon. gentleman appeared o have taken a too gloomy view of tho position of he colony at first, and now spoke with confidence, uly advising cantion and care. Bnt, what was the act ? Why, that the colony had that within it to

recover from the depression and the bard times. There was confidence in the homo market and money in the colony, and while that existed they were secaro. The colony was recovering, bntit was not by any means due to Major Atkinson's expressions of confidence. Taxation was Major Atkinson’s watchword for relief from the troubles financially ; bnt he (the speaker) believed that more care and energy wanted to be exercised in the colony rather than increasing the taxation for the payment of the country’s liabilities. [A Voice—** How about the 10 per cent, reduction ?”] Well, he would take up that subject now, for the information of those who wished to hear his defence. In the first place, he would read them the facts of the 10 per cent, reduction, ns appearing’in “ Hansard.” He should do this in order there might be no misunderstanding in the matter. The first intimation of the reduction would be found in the 11th copy of “ Hansard,” page 680, when Mr Header Wood introduced the subject, by expressing a desire to see some principle laid down. tract read.] He then read the resolutions as to the reductions of the Ministerial salaries and that of the general reductions of 15 and 10 per cent. [lnterruption.]] Ho had confidence in Mr Header Wood to a certain extent, but, notwithstanding that confidence, he believed they were bogus motions, put out simply as feelers to tost the opinions of the House on the subject. When Mr Header Wood made his statement he took occasion to prick a card, to see how the voting would go with reference to the three resolutions, and ho felt that the two first resolutions would not be carried. [At this stage a prolonged interrux>tion took place by persons clamouring to get in to the gal.ery, the doors of which were locked, but were soon opened, and a large crowd were admitted to that part of the Hall. Order being restored, the candidate continued and read freely from “ Hansard.”] It would bo seen that he hod, in his place in the House opposed the principle of relieving the burdens on the many at the expense of the few. [A Voice; “ Did you say all that ?” and “ How much were you bought over for ?”].He would now proceed to read the speeches of Mr Macandrew and others on the subject of the retrenchment. [A Voice : 14 Ah, Macandrew is la bad'mon !”] Sir George Grey’s opinion was that the scale of salaries was too high. [** No !”] That was what Sir George Grey said. [Further extracts from “Hansard” read, including the resolutions proposed by Mr Gisborne member of the late Cabinet, and the remarks of Mr Moorhouse.] He said no Government could govern wages—wages would settle themselves in spite of any Government, and that was the belief under which ho acted in his place in the House. He then read a resolution proposed bv Mr Thomson (Clutha), which he (Mr Andrews) helped to frame, and that resolution was in its effect calculated to affect all classes. It was framed as a test of the question. Ho had committed himself, and as an honorable man he was bound to do as ho had done. He acted as he had done to prevent a bogus resolution being carried. [lnterruption, cries of “gammon” and applause.] The “Star” had charged him with forsaking his party. [Cries of “ No,” and hisses.] It was all very well to say “ No,” bnt let them mecc him personally and say so. [A voice—“ You’re a hard nut! ”] He was pledged to economy, and was determined to abide by this pledge and determination. He wont into the House with a strict regard for economy. [Groans and general uproar.] The Chairman called the meeting to order. He believed a majority of those present had come with a desire to hear Mr Andrews, and he asked theca to preserve order. [Cheers and laughter]. Mr Andrews continued —A million of money was being spent in this colony in official salaries, and he said that such a taxation was too much for a country of its size and age. [Cheers.] Ho would now refer to a question he had taken action in, namely, that of the Lunatic Asylums. [“That’s where you ought to be.”] He knew that the asylums in the colony were badly managed, and he made remarks with regard to Hr. Skae’s action in the matter. Of course ho was not given credit for this, because ho did not happen to be so great a man as Mr Steveus or some others; therefore the Canterbury papers were not Inclined to take the matter up. But he (Mr Andrews) saw that the shoo pinched in the direction of the Lunatic Asylums, and he proposed that Mr Skae’s appointment of £BOO per annum should be abolished. But it was not only with regard to the inspection of Lunatic Asylums that his remarks applied. There were many institutions, gaols and hospitals, in the colony, which required looking into and revision. [Cheers.] Unfortunately, however, his remarks in regard to the inspectorship of lunatics were not received favorably, but were met with answering arguments landatory of Hr, Skao. It was at least satisfactory to know that events had proved his remarks to be more than justified, [Cheers.] With regard to the new appointment, the Inspector o Gaols, the first thing that he (the Inspector) had done was to gag the Press. No whisper was to come from within the walls of the gaols or the lunatic asylums. The Press were gagged, but they could not gag him. [Cheers and laughter.] A few weeks ago ho visited the Lyttelton Gaol, and finding everything in complete apple-pie order, he asked what was the reason of the evident extra care, and ho was told, ** Oh, the inspector is coming this afternoon!” [Laughter.] That was the mischief of the present system, the visits of the inspector were anticipated and prepared for. What they wanted were local Boards of management for their gaols and other institutions, and until they got such, the evils at present existing must continue to prevail. With regard to the administration of the friendly societies and the Government actuaries, ho pointed out from the Government report that the colony was put to a large amount of expense without any commensurate advantage accruing to the public generally. In fact, the supervision as at present carried out was a piece of useless extravagance. Referring to political matters purely, he expressed disapproval of the Representation Bill. He could not understand Mr Stevens’ expressed opinions on the subject. He (Mr Andrews) objected to the Bill because it was not based really or a population basis. The cities were not duly const dered. This particularly applied to Christchurch and its suburbs, which would suffer inadequate representation under the proposals in the Bill. Thus districts with a smaller population had the same ad vantages. Each suburb had 6000 people, with on< member each, and Now Plymouth and Moan Egmont, with 2000, or something slightly over, hat each the same extent of representation. Returnin* to the redaction question, ho said he had voted foi the abolition of “ Hansard,” as a useless piece o extravagant expenditure. The members spoke t< the “ Hansard ” reporters, not to the members o the House for the purpose of impressing opinion upon them ; and ho thought if “ Hansard ” wer done away with, the effect would not only be t save the cost of the 44 Hansard’] staff, but t curtail general expense by shortening the sessior Also ho thought an advantageous change b made in regard to the forms of procedure in th House, by preventing vexatious obstruction! [Applause.] He objected to a cumbersome fori of taxation. He objected to the property ta when it was brought forward. [Further extract ‘ from “ Hansard” read.] Ho objected to it on tb ground that it was too expensive to collect. H ■ advocated the adhesive stamp duty, on the oth< hand, on account of its simplicity. The taxatic at present was inequitable, because it did not suf ciontly press upon the monied classes of societ; With regard to the regulation of elections, 1 would like to see them taking place in one day, ar I ho had, and always would, advocate the prolong f tion of the hoars of polling. At present the syste f of voting was liable to abuse, because men could g , over the country and record their votes in differei places —thus the process railed swamping wi * effected. He would say a word about the West Coa a Railway. It had been said that he was unfavorab • to the scheme, but why such an opinion hi a obtained ho could not say, as ho had long ago, win seeking the suffrages of the people, expressc . opinions favorable to a railway to the West Goaf: J and he then said ho thought Mr Blair, the Gover ' ment engineer, was a prejudiced man. But it w not the wish of the Government that the railwi should go there. As a matter of fact there won bo no railway in the direction indicated till t] k . Canterbury members would co-operate. There wc a however, no cohesion among the members of Ca terbury. There were caucusses in Auckland ai Wellington and other towns, but the Canterbn representatives hold aloof from each other. Wh they wanted for this place were men like Maca androw, who had done so much for Dunedi 19 Returning to the West Coast railway, ip said ho objected to anything like barter that is, giving so much railway for much land; but ho wished to be undi stood that if no other method could bo ( vised or carried out for establishing this railwn IB he would not oppose such a plan. Further, n might say generally that he would do his best 5V forward the construction of a railway from Cant lV bury to the West Coast. Speaking of the Chine question, ho foresaw danger to the colony from t influx of the Mongolians, and ho would his best prevent such a catastrophe occurring. With tin remarks ho concluded, and expressed hia willii ness to answer questions, jn An Elector —Ho you believe in the Harbor Boe a employing prison labor ? II If the prisoners can bo made to pay for their si >8 port in such way, ho would say yes, although 0i was not fully prepared to follow oat the quest ir at present.

Mr W. Olliver asked whether the candidate was

prepared to follow Sir George Grey next session as leader of the Opposition. _ Mr Andrews—When (and if) Sir George Grey offers to lead the Opposition, he has only to declare it, and I will he there to attend his caucus a ad support him. Iu reply to numerous other questions, . Mr Andrews spoke as follows: —He considered that the authority to levy rates to the extent of 2s in the £ was too great a power to place in the hands of local bodies. With regard to drainage matters, the Board appeared to have been working under an Act for a long time, of which the people distinctly disapproved, and yet the Act had been passed and remained in force, which was at least strange. He believed however, that a new measure had been framed, and would be submitted to the House next session. Before a Bill of the kind passed the House, _he should like to have an expression of opinion from the people. A scheme had been entered . It did not appear certain whose scheme it was. But it appeared evident that there was something unsatisfactory in the administration of drainage I affairs at the present time. Ho was strongly in favor of purely secular education, but would give permission for religions instruction in school houses outside school hours. Ho would not support Bible reading iu schools.—A question being’ asked as to whether he did not think Dr. Skao ought to have been suspended after the revelations made iu the late enquiry into the Wellington Lunatic Asylum, he said he was not prepared to answer off-hand that particular point, although ho had already stated his views generally with respect to Dr. Skae’s appointment. There were two sides to every question, and he had not yet heard Dr. Skae’s defence. The papers would be brought before Parliament next session, when Dr Skae’s defence would he considered, and then would bo the time for him (Mr Andrews) to express his opinion. Another question was why should not the Roman Catholics have a fair proportion of the money voted by Parliament for education, Ho pointed ont in the first place that the subject was one which required a large amount of consideration, and he felt moreover that the question had not been put fairly. But he might answer it by saying that if such a claim were admitted, the same privilege would have to be extended to Jews and other exclusive sects. He could not. see bis way at the present time to disturb the education system, although he had no donht that some amendments might be made in the regulations which would operate satisfactorily—that is, he should like to sec the same privileges granted in every locality. But it was all a work of time, and ho might say in this connection that he believed they were only ns yet learning to edneate the children of the colony. On the laud purchase question he was distinctly favorable to the Maori lauds first coming into the hands of the Government, and opposed to any system which would assist land monopolists in acquiring large estates from the Natives. With regard to the Maori prisoners, he had already stated in the House of Representatives, that he considered their imprisonment without trial inhuman, and their detention unpardonable. If they were guilty under the law they should have been punished (after trial), and if not they should have been at once released. A question was asked as to whether the present scheme of higher education was not prejudicial to the interests of the poor who were by it made to pay for the education of the rich. Mr Andrews thought not. The evidence went to show the contrary. In the High Schools, for instance, the majority of those who had obtained scholarships were of the poorer classes, and he thought the fact disclosed the possession by the great body of the people of a blessed privilege and inheritance for future generations, With regard to the unemployed, he said it was a sorry state of things existed that the G vernment should be asked to find work for unemployed. It was largely due to reckless immigration. He felt, however, that unless something were done next winter there would be great distress. He did not think the reduction last session was taking advantage of the depressed times to reduce the price of labour. He was in favour of local productions, and would support them to the fullest extent. He believed that the work of Messrs Batkin and Seed’s department was going on equally well without them as it would were they present; farther, he believed that every appointment of over £6OO a year was of a political character, and not because the persons occupyingthem were necessary to the welfare of Government business. But he hoped the meeting would avoid introducing personal questions—that is, the names of particular officers. Ho thought the Government railways were being conducted very inefficiently. He advocated the establishment of local Boards of management. He did not approve extra taxing power (granted by small Acts), and he believed B; was not the wish of

this constituency that Mr Stevens* Fire Brigade Bill should pass. Mr Treadwell made a few remarks on the representation proposals, and suggested that the meeting should recommend Mr Andrews to oppose the breaking up of the electoral district of Christchurch into sections, because it would multiply property votes. The meeting adopted the suggestion, and Mr Andrews said he should be glad to accept it, as the idea coincided with his own views on the subject. Mr Oliver proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Andrews for his address, and “that this meeting has entire confidence in him as their representative in Parliament.” The motion was seconded by Mr Muffett and cirried. This concluded the proceedings, and the meeting dispersed.